Conflictions
by Vergil-LeonXLover
Summary: "Ame, do you like this boy?" Hana treated the question with a seriousness that was rarely seen from her countenance. This is a story in which Souhei makes Ame question further where he really belongs. Is he meant to be a wolf, after all?
1. Chapter 1

Ame had returned home for the afternoon after a day of learning on the mountains from Sensei's teachings. The wolf boy was destined to one day take over in the wise fox's place as Guardian of the mountain – Ame had accepted that for his future already. In truth, he couldn't see himself doing anything else. Not anything in the society humans have. He couldn't settle for a teacher, researcher, gardener, or anything for that matter. Ame doesn't belong with the civilization of humans, he knew that. 

Yuki, his older sister was different from him in that way. She was happy to fit in with the human side of herself; she was good at being one. Part of Ame would never truly accept this, he believed Yuki to be a true wolf at heart – just as she was when they were younger. She used to take pride in the animal she was. But not anymore, that seemed like it was so long ago now. 

Upon stepping soundlessly into the open doorway, Ame paused when the sound of his sister's whimpering was heard echoing through the expanse of the house. His mother's faint voice could be heard, too. It sounded like they were in the back room where the siblings slept. Ame pondered, hesitant about interrupting this emotional rollercoaster his mother was currently dealing with. He felt so distant from his sister these days; he wasn't sure what help he could be. 

When the boy took a single step forward, the wooden floorboard creaked from under him, alerting the other house members of his presence. 

"Ame?" Hana's voice called through the other end of the house. There was no getting out of it now, it seemed. 

"Yeah, mom, it's me." Ame answered to her, walking towards the source where the two girls were. Peaking in, he was met with the sight of his mother who was brushing a comforting hand on the girl hiding under her blankets, the overlay moving with the trembling of Yuki's sobs. She was home early today from school so in that case, something must have happened, he figured. 

"What's going on?" Ame asked, remaining standing in the opening of the doorway. He wanted to offer his sister some space as mom was no doubt overwhelming her with the refusal to leave her alone. Yuki may disregard the wolf half of herself, but she was and is a wolf and she is part of his pack. It was only natural as her brother – he would display concern. 

Hana sighed, her hues rising to meet with her son's. Her eyes expressed sadness, but also hinted that of disappointment, "Yuki had an accident. She was under a lot of pressure… so I suppose she hurt a boy in her class," 

"What?" Ame said this as if he did not hear her, surprise apparent in his tone as he stepped into the scope of the room now. 

This caused Yuki to ruffle around under the covers as she shifted, muffled sounds continuing to emit from under the layer of the blanket she used to hide her shame. "I'm not sure whether or not he was being honest, but when I came by the office to resolve the situation, he claimed that it was a wolf who scratched him," 

All Ame thought to do was stare dumbfounded towards his mother, brown orbs widened with the news of this. What did this mean? Would they have to leave this place now? If that was the case, they would just have to leave without him. He's already found his place. 

"So what does this mean? Is… Is Yuki going to get into trouble? Did they believe him?" Ame finally spoke up with questions, his voice becoming louder with each one that followed. 

Hana raised a finger against her lips as to quiet him down, continuing to tend to a distraught Yuki with comforting strokes on her upper back. "I think everything's going to be fine. He seemed like a nice boy and the principal handled the situation with his mother well, especially after his explanation." 

"I'm so sorry mom. I messed up," Yuki muttered from under the blankets between her sniffles. 

Ame's gaze flickered down to the fort of blankets his sister buried herself in. It would seem Yuki's wolf nature got the better of her today. Ame knew it was still in there somewhere. He wondered if she would be interested in training with Sensei too, she could surely use the knowledge. Shaking his head, the boy would kneel so that he was closer leveled with Yuki, silently observing the shaken frame of her. Lately he was so in-touch with his wolf-side, that his human emotion was slowly fading from his being. Sometimes, his humanoid body felt merely like a shell. 

"You don't need to apologize anymore, honey. I'm not upset at you. Things will go back to normal in no time, you'll see." Hana reassured her daughter, withdrawing her hand so that Yuki had the chance to collect herself on her own. 

And then Ame did something that both siblings dared not to do in a long time, Hana couldn't remember the last time she had witnessed it. There was Ame, scooting close beside his older sister before his arm hesitantly extended around her in his own form of comfort. Through the blanket, the warmth of his chest was soothing against her back – she didn't struggle. She didn't reject the affection. She allowed it. 

"You'll be okay, Yuki, now rest up." Ame's unusual soft tone rang through her ears and with it, her trembling slowly subsided. No one else understood the struggle of handling that side of herself than Ame did. His presence brought solace to her pain. 

Hana would monitor her children, a smile forming on her lips at the display. It was sweet to witness them supporting one another when they had become distant as the years progressed, because Ame and Yuki were opposites from the beginning. And then it became clear, she was no longer needed at this moment. 

* * *

Yuki decided to take some time off of school. Everyone had heard rumors that someone 'beat him up' and 'attacked' him and it was not so secretive that she was the cause when all her classmates whispered about the incident while staring back at her with a variety of looks. She was not ready to possibly face that again. Not when she was already feeling enough guilt for what she had done. Souhei may have covered up for her, or maybe he actually believed it was a random wolf, but that didn't matter. The damage was already done. She spent most of her time isolating herself in the sleeping room or in the bath barrel, much to Hana's concern. 

Meanwhile, Ame continued to spend most of his time up on the mountain. At this point, he was able to communicate with other animals on the land fairly well. He was experienced in the terms of wolf standards, even grown strong enough to take down other predators that challenge him. However, something about Sensei was off. He injured his leg and now he possesses nowhere near as much endurance as before. Ame hoped it would heal with time, until then he would take care of the fox and hunt food for him until the wise one recovers. 

Sensei had communicated with the wolf that he was dismissing his aid early today, insisting he return home and leave him in peace. Ame was disappointed by this, but ultimately he obeyed his wish. When he reached the bottom of the mountain, he reverted to human form as to prevent the risk of any other humans from seeing him as an animal. Following the dirt path home, he wasn't walking for long before he spotted a figure in the distance. Ame examined the person as he got closer, and soon his vision could see that it was a boy – he looked about Yuki's age. This other boy was seemingly staring thoughtfully at the residence, holding a stack of papers clenched in his hands. 

Ame wasn't sure if he should say something, after all he had no idea who this person was. Nor was his scent familiar, and so far his presence was unnoticed by the other boy. The sun was gleaming down as it was soon setting, the temperature was humid and the sounds of cicada bugs sang through the hoard of trees. All the while, the boy continued to observe the stranger, waiting for any sort of sign or indication as to what he's here for. 

But nothing, all he could sense from the other was a façade of nervousness. Whatever he came here to do, it's obvious he was hesitant. Finally, Ame proceeded towards the front of his house, his steps that shuffled in the dirt were heard by the other now, and he swiftly turned on his shoes to face Ame. That's when the wolf boy saw it, a cotton bandage taped to his ear. Could this be…? 

"Oh, hey there! Is Yuki home?" The boy asked, the words slipped past his lips messily. 

Ame continued to stare blankly toward him, though with his question a brow would arch upward. Did he come here to further confront Yuki? This had to be the boy she harmed, "She's not home." He answered with a lie. 

Souhei's shoulders fell, the smile he wore on his lips straightening. There was no indication whether or not he believed Ame, but he still understood that he wouldn't be seeing her today. "I see… Bummer," 

The younger boy could only nod; he was not sure what else he should say. It was clear he already disappointed him. "Is there something you need?" 

Souhei's head would tilt upward from the ground to gaze upon Ame, nodding himself before passing the papers in his hands toward him, "This is the classwork Yuki's been missing, thought I'd bring it to her so she doesn't fall behind when she decides to come back to school. Let her know it's from Souhei, okay?" A small smile formed upon his face again. 

"Uh," Ame began, taken aback by the boy's reasoning for coming here. It was unexpected, wasn't he angry at Yuki? Perhaps he really did believe it was a wolf that attacked him that day. "Sure, thanks. I'll let her know." He would take the papers from Souhei's hands, averting his gaze to the dirt afterward. 

There was an unwieldy silence between the two, both of them standing there with unknowingness about the situation. The fact was, Souhei was nice, clearly pleasant and somehow that made Ame feel indifferent. 

"Weird," Souhei's voice then broke the silence, and when Ame's hues shifted to look at the taller boy again, he found Souhei was now gazing towards the opening of the countryside home. 

"Huh?" Ame was confused. 

"Yuki said you guys didn't have a dog, but I can really smell the odor of one coming from your house… and you. Kind of strange," 

Ame's form would tense up from where he stood, but the other boy would simply lift his shoulders into a shrug before he turned to start walking back down the dirt path. "Well, see ya' later!" He raised his hand to offer him a parting wave, to which, Ame would return even though it was unseen. 

"Yeah…Bye." He replied with a lowly voice that sounded of almost a whisper.


	2. Chapter 2

Ame swiftly slid open the screen panels connecting to the bedroom shared between the wolf siblings, where he would find his older sister now with her curled knees pressed against her chest, appearing to be lost in her own world of thoughts; basking in what seemed to be an eternal silence. Even as the sound of his steps entering the scope disrupted that tranquility, she did not even acknowledge his presence.

Standing there in his own silence, he stood above her curled form, observing her for a moment as he waited to see if she would talk – say anything at all. But she didn't. Within the grip of his hands he still carried the papers her classmate had personally delivered to her, extending a hand to lower them onto her study desk.

"I was asked to give these to you, from some guy at your school named Souhei," He stated plainly, moving backwards towards the wooden frame of the door to grant his sister space.

His words visibly shook her, a soft gasp emitting from under the security of her arms. Her reaction only increased the suspicion Ame had upon meeting the other boy only moments ago – he had to have been the one she accidentally lashed out on.

"So, who is he?" Ame pressed, voicing his curiosity as he leaned the weight of his arm against the frame now. Even if he did believe he already knew the answer, he wondered the bounds of the relationship they had.

Yuki did not answer his question, only to slowly avert her head in the other direction, avoiding catching her brother's gaze.

When the silence continued, Ame was the first to break it again, "He seems nice." He said, bearing no expression on his features to compliment that statement.

It seemed like long passing minutes when his sister slowly swayed her head in his direction to face him, and he could immediately spot the strain weighing behind her brown orbs as they quickly sharpened upon him. "He's no one, okay?"

Seeing through the lack of truth in her answer, he simply arched a brow at this; a tedious smile curling on the edge of his lip to accompany it. "You're not very good at lying." With saying that, though, his features slowly faded back to its usual deadpan state.

The fact of the matter was, this boy was injured by the hands of Yuki himself – accident or not, and despite this, he still cared enough to travel what must have been a fair amount of distance to their home in order to make sure she wasn't falling behind in school. That takes consideration; meaning he had to have harbored a fondness for his sister to a degree.

His words would only fuel her emotions, scattering for the closest pillow she could find and throwing it at her brother. "Look, can't you just leave me alone? It doesn't matter who he is!" She snapped with vexation behind her tone, scorn heavy on her expression. Ame remained silent with her sudden outburst, staring back at his sister with patience as his stature loomed over own.

Eventually, her breathing calmed and her brows retracted in relief, the tension softening from her face and replaced with a familiar gloom. "Anyway, he shouldn't even be here. I hurt him. I didn't mean to, but I did…"

The wolf-hybrid's chin lifted with her confession, his brown orbs glistening with a silent apprehension in the notion that his intuition was right all along. "It's because wolves aren't meant to be tamed, Yuki. We can't help what we are; we don't belong in an environment where we're forced to deny our nature."

Yuki shifted hastily to slip under the shelter of her blankets, expressing her displeasure with what Ame had to say. She hated when he tried to convince her she was anything but human. Ame believed that when she did this, it's because she was simply afraid he was right. "I'm not like you, Ame, I can't just abandon everything I've worked for this far. I like being a normal girl."

Ame was quick to shoot back, "Doesn't being a 'normal' girl sound _boring_?" He said, not bothering to mask the distaste with the word in his tone. "Were you afraid to let Souhei see who you truly are?"

Thrashing out of the blankets, Yuki raised herself upwards to glare daggers in her brother's direction, "Shut up…!" She muttered through gritted teeth. If they weren't comforting each other, then they were arguing. It was rare for them to have middle ground as of late. It was a prime example of what happens when two people are so different.

"Stop it, both of you." Hana's voice called from behind Ame, and he did not even need to face her to detect the unsettled emotions she wore. It was no secret she hated to see both her children fight like they do. It was as if the older they got, the less control she had over them, in turn.

There was a prolonged exchange of contrast expressions, Ame's face bearing nothing but a blank void, while Yuki displayed venom. This lasted in silence for a couple passing moments, before finally, the brother broke the contact and turned to leave without offering his mother and sister so much as a word, sliding the shutter closed behind him.

The following day, Ame was the first to wake between the siblings, the sun shining radiantly through the window and illuminating a reflection onto where Ame rests. From beside him at the other end of the room, was Yuki still fast asleep. He found it almost comical that she was the one who was supposed to be running on a suitable school schedule, yet he slept in less than she did without any drowsy moods.

He would pull the blankets off, sitting up before rising to his feet. Upon getting dressed into the usual shirt of white and comfortable dark-shaded pants, he quietly exited the room without disturbance, not even so much as sliding slippers onto his feet prior to stepping out of the country home's entrance, and instead was greeted with the warmth of the sun setting upon his silhouette.

As he descended from the wooden step and onto the ground, two bare feet welcomed the dirt shadowing his foot's surface. He was set on drifting quickly to the dirt path, away from civilization where he could change without witnessing eyes.

However, there was another walking up the path leading to his home. They seemed to recognize Ame before he noticed them, for he could make out an apparent hesitant arm raising, accompanied by a now vaguely familiar voice.

Of course, it was Souhei.

"Huh?" Ame's lips faintly parted, slowing his steps before coming to a complete halt – waiting for the other boy to approach closer. Just what could he want, now?

When he caught up, Souhei displayed a smile. "Oh, hey again. I don't think I got your name yesterday?" The boy so nonchalantly spoke up to him, raising an arm behind his head to ruffle at his short ends.

Ame peered down at the paper in the other's hands. ". . . It's Ame." He stated plainly, brown orbs peering upwards at the slightly taller boy. "What brings you here?" He followed with a question; suspecting he already knew the answer, though.

"I meant to bring these yesterday, as well, but I realized when I got home I left them in my bag. Anyway, I just wanted to give her these notes I've been taking in class so she won't be confused for the test on Monday." He said, averting his hues somewhat nervously.

The wolf-hybrid's lids fluttered in a couple blinks, feeling rather perplexed at his boldness. It was one thing to deliver homework to his sister on the one occasion, perhaps out of guilt, but he was here for a second time with yet another considerate intention.

"I see."

"Um," Souhei began, appearing to be unsure of what to say at Ame's lack of response. Instead, he merely extended the smile worn on his features, before outstretching his arms to pass him the stack. "Sorry to ask again, but think you could give her these, too?" He asked, eyes softening with a gentleness mirroring a wise nature beyond his years.

Brown orbs reflected into opposite sets of a darker hue, Ame's lips thinning as he continued to observe the taller one before him. "What do you get out of this?"

Souhei's expression shifted, appearing to be taken aback by the question, before dropping his shoulders into a shrug. "I feel like I owe her, you know? And besides, it's not fair she doesn't feel comfortable with attending school."

"You mean that bothers you?" Ame inquired, his gaze not faltering for a second.

"Of course. Wouldn't you want someone to be kind to you in moments you feel completely alone?" He asked without a hint of uncertainty behind those words.

A flash of imagery played through his mind; a protective arm comforting a sobbing older sister, a warmth accompanying their embrace. Yes, Ame could understand that. This time, he was the one to drop his gaze from Souhei and to the ground. "Yeah."

Tilting his head to one side, Souhei slowly lowered the papers, blinking as he noticed the way his question seemingly sent the younger into a series of thoughts.

"You're her younger brother, right? I don't see you at school anymore." He said, attempting to change the sensitive topic at hand.

The shorter boy shot a look up at Souhei again, surprise washing over his face. That was something this kid managed to do a lot to Ame. "It's just not my thing,"

Souhei's smile returned, and fortunately, no judgement seemed to cross his mind. It was actually a refreshing reaction. "Oh, okay. I can get that, I suppose. I wish I was brave enough to know what I wanted."

Meaning…? Ame thought, but he didn't want to press. He was beginning to grow nervous the longer he was forced to socialize. All he wanted to do was hide away in the forest and run freely as the wild canine he was.

"It would just suck if the path you've chosen doesn't make you happy." The taller added, gaze easing upon him now.

Ame, yet again, raised a questioning brow. His shoulders tensing. He didn't understand why he cared to hear his explanation, but he did. "Why do you say that?" He asks, his voice sounded bleak.

"Your eyes," Souhei stated, taking a step forward and leaning in within close proximity to Ame's countenance, lids narrowing slightly upon the detail he was closely examining.

"W-What….?" The wolf-hybrid felt heat rushing to his face, retracting a step backwards as he felt alarmed by the other boy's sudden closeness – raising two arms defensively.

"I don't know, your eyes just look kind of sad." He spoke softly, his older eyes looming over the younger's current nervous demeanor, before he straightened his back again. Ame parted his lips to speak, however, he couldn't find the words. Something about what he said just, somehow, burdened him in a manner he didn't want to think about.

Without taking the papers as asked of him, he would clear his throat and swiftly proceeded passed the other's presence and began down the path once more. "I can't help you, I'm leaving. Feel free to leave the notes on the deck."

He didn't turn around to take a last look at Souhei, but from what he could sense, he had still been standing there and was watching him walk away. "I guess I'll see you next time, then!" He could hear the older boy call out from a distance, and Ame was timid at the idea of seeing him again.

 _Next time, huh?_


End file.
